Before John Solomon founded Just the News, his own newspaper put his work under investigation. In February 2020, The Hill published the findings of a months-long review of 14 Ukraine columns Solomon had written for it, attached editor's notes to each one, and tightened its editorial rules, concluding the pieces had blended opinion with reporting and left out context readers needed.[4] Those columns had already figured prominently in President Trump's first impeachment inquiry.[3] Weeks before the review landed, Solomon had left to launch his own outlet: Just the News, a Washington-based digital news company that publishes reporting, podcasts, video and polling, and promises readers exclusive stories delivered "in a neutral voice."[1][2]
Six years later, that promise is being tested from a different direction. In June 2026, Solomon temporarily stepped down as editor-in-chief to serve as an unpaid special government employee in the Trump administration, working on what the White House describes as a task force on government transparency and election integrity, while continuing to report on election integrity for the outlet he owns.[9]
- The founder is an unpaid Trump administration official through October 2026
- Its parent company's largest grant on record came from the Informing America Foundation
- The Informing America Foundation distributed more than $8 million to conservative and right-leaning media in 2022
- Publicly traded conservative broadcaster Salem Media sells and promotes its podcasts
- Its nightly show runs on Real America's Voice, where Solomon has interviewed Donald Trump
Quick Take
Just the News runs a nightly show, "Just the News, No Noise," on Real America's Voice, where Solomon and co-host Amanda Head, the site's White House correspondent, have interviewed Donald Trump.[6][9] In 2023, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy would grant Solomon access to January 6 Capitol footage, what she called "unfettered access", making him one of a small group of figures handed the tapes.[5] That same year, publicly traded Salem Media Group announced a deal to sell advertising for and promote Just the News podcasts on its Salem Podcast Network, alongside shows hosted by Charlie Kirk and Dinesh D'Souza.[10] In June 2026, Solomon joined the Trump administration as a special government employee assigned to election integrity, an arrangement ethics specialists have publicly questioned.[9] The company markets itself as strictly nonpartisan: "Information Without Indoctrination," reporting "in a neutral voice."[1]
What Just the News Actually Publishes
Just the News is a digital-first operation, not a print paper or a broadcast newsroom. It runs written articles, the "John Solomon Reports" podcast, video segments and occasional polling, plus a nightly primetime TV program.[1][2][6] The site is free to read and leans on a paid membership tier for support.
Its signature feature is a "Dig Deeper" tool, which attaches the underlying documents behind a story, court filings, records and transcripts, so readers can inspect the evidence themselves.[1] At launch, the masthead drew on established conservative-media names, including former CBN correspondent David Brody, former CNN political director Christine Dolan, and Sharyl Attkisson, an Emmy-winning investigative reporter formerly at CBS.[2]
The Neutral-Voice Promise, and the Founder's Record
The outlet states its mission in three lines: "Honest Journalism, Trusted Reporters," "Information Without Indoctrination," and "Rising Above Rhetoric." It says it wants to return to "the bedrock promise of getting news first, but first getting it right."[1]
The record its founder brings is more complicated. The Hill's 2020 review of Solomon's Ukraine work found that he had not disclosed relevant information about sources, left out context, and produced opinion columns that read like straight news; the paper added editor's notes to the 14 pieces but did not retract them.[3][4] Witnesses at the House impeachment hearings had disputed the columns.[3] Solomon has defended his reporting.[3] He founded the company, owns it, and has served as its CEO and editor-in-chief since launch.[1][8]
The Founder Inside the Government
In mid-June 2026, Solomon announced he was joining the Trump administration as a special government employee, an unpaid role he described as helping the government identify documents and secrets bearing on "weaponization, election integrity, and other things."[9] A White House official confirmed to the Washington Examiner that he is part of a task force on government transparency and election integrity.[9]
Solomon temporarily stepped down as editor-in-chief for the assignment, but he has continued covering election integrity for Just the News, on his podcast, and on the daily Real America's Voice program he co-hosts with Amanda Head.[9] He was also involved in crafting President Trump's July 2026 primetime address on alleged vulnerabilities in U.S. election systems, and some of the material the president highlighted, including allegations that China accessed voter registration records, had appeared in Just the News reporting weeks earlier.[9] Solomon later acknowledged that intelligence officials had found no evidence votes were changed in the 2020, 2022 or 2024 elections, and said the task force is still researching the question.[9]
Ethics specialists have raised objections. Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette of the nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight said the arrangement presents a clear conflict of interest, though he noted the special government employee designation has been used by administrations of both parties to bring people into government outside the normal appointment process. Peter Loge, who directs George Washington University's Project on Ethics in Political Communication, said the role creates at minimum the perception of a conflict. A White House official said Solomon is operating within special government employee guidelines and has engaged directly with White House officials on managing potential conflicts.[9]
Solomon and Just the News declined to say who is running the site in his absence, and did not answer whether he remains CEO.[9]
Following the Business, Not a PAC
Just the News is privately held, owned by Bentley Media Group LLC, so it files no shareholder reports or SEC disclosures of its own.[1] Some of its funding is nonetheless a matter of public record, because it has flowed through a nonprofit that must report its grants. According to IRS filings reviewed by The Guardian, the single largest grant made by the Informing America Foundation went to Bentley Media Group. The Informing America Foundation is a 501(c)(3) formed in 2021 that distributed more than $8 million in 2022 to a dozen conservative and right-leaning media and activist groups, among them Accuracy in Media, the Real Clear Foundation, and Performance One Media, which produces Steve Bannon's War Room; its own largest reported donor is the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, a longtime backer of conservative causes whose founder sits on the Informing America board.[11] Beyond that funding trail, the outlet's documented political footprint runs through its business relationships and its founder.
The nightly show airs on Real America's Voice, the same network that carried a 2022 election special Solomon hosted, "The New Foundation for American Greatness," which was sponsored by Heritage Action for America, the advocacy arm affiliated with the Heritage Foundation, according to the program's announcement.[6][7]
In November 2023, Salem Media Group, a publicly traded Christian and conservative broadcaster, announced a partnership placing Just the News podcasts on the Salem Podcast Network, with Salem handling advertising sales and promotion. The deal covered Solomon's own program along with shows hosted by Victor Davis Hanson and by Gary Bauer and Tom Rose, and put them on a network whose lineup already included Charlie Kirk, Dinesh D'Souza and Trish Regan.[10]
And in 2023, Solomon was one of a small group of journalists to whom House Republican leadership granted access to January 6 Capitol footage, a move announced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and reported by The Hill.[5]
Who Owns It
Solomon announced Just the News in January 2020, and the site went live the following month.[2] It is owned and operated by Bentley Media Group LLC, a company he created and owns, and he has served as its CEO and editor-in-chief, a role he temporarily stepped away from in June 2026 for his government assignment.[1][8][9] Before founding it, Solomon spent nearly two decades at the Associated Press, then held senior roles at The Washington Post, The Washington Times, Newsweek and The Daily Beast, and The Hill, where he was an executive vice president who helped build the Hill.TV video platform; he was also a Fox News contributor.[8][3]
Where to Find Them
Just the News publishes at justthenews.com, free to read, with a paid membership that offers "VIP access" to subscriber events and funds its reporting.[1] Its nightly program, "Just the News, No Noise," streams weeknights at 6 p.m. ET on Real America's Voice, including on Rumble and Pluto TV.[6]
Footnotes
[1] Just the News, "About Us," accessed July 27, 2026. https://justthenews.com/about-us [2] PR Newswire, "Award-Winning Investigative Journalist Launches New Media Outlet," January 16, 2020. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/award-winning-investigative-journalist-launches-new-media-outlet-300987902.html [3] CNN Business, "The Hill criticizes John Solomon's Ukraine columns, implements new policies after lengthy review," February 19, 2020. https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/19/media/the-hill-john-solomon-columns-investigation-results/index.html [4] The Hill, "The Hill's review of John Solomon's columns on Ukraine," February 19, 2020. https://thehill.com/homenews/news/483600-the-hills-review-of-john-solomons-columns-on-ukraine/ [5] The Hill, "Greene says McCarthy will release Jan. 6 tapes to three more outlets," May 31, 2023. https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/4028956-greene-says-mccarthy-will-release-jan-6-tapes-to-three-more-outlets/ [6] Just the News, "Just the News, No Noise," accessed July 27, 2026. https://justthenews.com/tv-shows/just-news [7] Real America's Voice, "With Midterm Votes Still Being Tallied, TV Special to Explore Possible GOP Legislative Majority Agenda," November 17, 2022. https://realamericasvoice.substack.com/p/with-midterm-votes-still-being-tallied [8] Just the News, "John Solomon," accessed July 27, 2026. https://justthenews.com/john-solomon [9] Washington Examiner, Christian Datoc, "John Solomon's Trump administration role draws ethics scrutiny over election coverage," July 23, 2026. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/4657694/john-solomon-special-government-employee-ethics-scrutiny/ [10] Salem Media Group, "Salem Media Group Announces Partnership with Just The News," Business Wire, November 1, 2023. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231030790947/en/Salem-Media-Group-Announces-Partnership-with-Just-The-News [11] Jason Wilson, "Harvard billboard accusing students of antisemitism linked to rightwing funder," The Guardian, October 2023, reporting from IRS filings; corroborated by The New Republic, "The Right-Wing Funder Behind Harvard Billboards Targeting Pro-Palestine Students," October 16, 2023. https://newrepublic.com/post/176262/right-wing-funder-behind-harvard-billboards-targeting-pro-palestine-students
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